The #10YearChallenge and our environment

Of course, we have people with polarising opinions sharing their annoyance, their neutrality, and their satisfaction with the new trend:
26 January 2019, 18:00 PM

How COP24 rulebook will affect the future

The 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded on December 15, 2018 at Katowice, Poland. After a busy two weeks, the nearly 14,000 delegates from 195 countries managed to agree on a rulebook for achieving their Paris Agreement promises. It began with a stark warning by Sir David Attenborough who urged world leaders to tackle “our greatest threat in thousands of years.” He also warned that “the collapse of our civilisation” is “on the horizon” if we don't take concrete action now.
6 January 2019, 18:00 PM

The mixed results of COP24

Amid deep frustration of scientists and activists, the political economy of climate change has taken a new turn at the ever-widening gulf between science and politics as a depleted number of official delegates from around 200 countries struggled to reach a common ground at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP24, in Katowice, Poland.
23 December 2018, 18:00 PM

Confronting climate refugee issues in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is viewed globally as the “epic centre” for climate disasters. The country, due to its unique location, is battered regularly by extreme weather events such as high floods and tropical cyclone disasters displacing hundreds and thousands of people annually.
21 December 2018, 18:00 PM

COP24: A quick post-mortem

The Conference of the Parties 24 (COP24) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has ended on December 15, with the usual extension of more than a day to complete the deliberations.
19 December 2018, 18:00 PM

Killing the planet

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, we have pumped nearly 2,000 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Moreover, in April of this year, the average concentration of carbon dioxide reached a dubious milestone—410 parts per million—according to data recorded at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. Carbon dioxide hasn't been this high in millions of years.
14 December 2018, 18:00 PM

Moving from fossil fuels to renewables at a funeral pace

Almost half a century ago, on December 7, 1972, the crew of the Apollo 17 satellite took the very first image of the Earth in its entirety. Famously known as “The Blue Marble,” the extraordinary picture compelled humanity to question our place on this planet, the only home that we have ever known.
12 December 2018, 18:00 PM

Discoveries that can clean up carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concedes that limiting the rise in global temperature under two degrees Celsius before the end of this century is impossible without reducing emission of carbon dioxide to zero by 2050.
28 November 2018, 18:00 PM

Earth's biodiversity: A pivotal meeting at a pivotal time

The quality of the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink depend directly on the state of our biodiversity, which is now in severe jeopardy.
15 November 2018, 18:00 PM

Will the major polluters pay?

The 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is going to be held in Katowice, Poland from December 2 to December 14, 2018.
11 November 2018, 18:00 PM

Is the difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius a big deal?

Today, we are witnessing a lively, sometimes acrimonious, debate over global warming. Science, economics and politics are all mixed up in this debate.
10 November 2018, 18:00 PM

Global warming is impacting how Earth spins on its axis

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions might be affecting more than just the climate. For the first time, scientists at NASA presented evidence that the orientation of the Earth's spin axis is changing because of global warming.
25 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Disaster preparedness: A shift in paradigm

Since the late-20th-century, a shift in paradigm has happened in the intellectual arena of architecture, art, literature, philosophy, history, economics, fiction, etc. It happened mostly in the industrialised countries and emerged as Postmodernism, a critique of “modernism”.
12 October 2018, 18:00 PM

What can we learn from the Indonesia earthquake?

The island of Sulawesi in Indonesia was struck by a 7.5-magnitude earthquake on September 28, 2018 followed by 10-ft high tsunami waves. The death toll climbed to 1,424 as of Thursday.
4 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Killing the environment

A recent World Bank report—an environmental analysis of Bangladesh—should erase any remaining doubts about the critical level that environmental pollution has reached in the country.
2 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Clean and Green Bangladesh: A goal that can be achieved

Think before you do, not after you're done,” says a Bengali proverb that applies to an urgent threat today for Bangladesh—major environmental problems spawned by rapid urbanisation and industrialisation.
19 September 2018, 18:00 PM

Beat Plastic Pollution

In 2014, the United Nations Secretary General said: “There is no Plan B because we do not have a Planet B.” Since its inception in 1974, World Environment Day has grown to become a global platform for public outreach and it is now celebrated in more than 100 countries. The call to action for the World Environment Day 2018 is “Beat Plastic Pollution”. Plastic pollution is a pressing environmental concern that requires our collective action.
4 June 2018, 18:00 PM

Turning Dhaka into a resilient city

I recently attended a public seminar, titled “Resilient Cities: An Integrated Economic Approach to Natural Hazard Risk Mitigation,” held in Vancouver, Canada.
10 March 2018, 18:00 PM

Ecological havoc in Dhaka

Dhaka is faced with many direct threats to biodiversity with accelerating economic development, growing population, land grabbing, congested housing, tree felling, and vehicles emitting toxic fumes leading to extreme pollution and poor quality of life.
28 February 2018, 18:00 PM

Combating climate change

Just as the United States is in the process of pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord, US government data revealed that the need for action to stem global warming is as urgent as ever.
16 February 2018, 18:00 PM